Photo Credit: James Tourtellotte

Members of the San Diego horse patrol riding atop of Spooner's Mesa near Imperial Beach Border Patrol Station.

No one could argue that a mounted agent in full dress uniform provides the utmost in pomp and circumstance for ceremonial settings, but in this age of cutting-edge technology, can horse patrols do more? Read on. The answer may surprise you.

A rich heritage
From the beginning, horses were an important part of the Border Patrol, and they remain so today. Mounted guards, the predecessors of today's Border Patrol, were a colorful group who, as they watched the border for illegals, embodied the independence and love of the land associated with the old West. In 1915, Congress authorized the Mounted Patrolmen, a more formal group of officers on horseback, until finally, in 1924, the Border Patrol was established.

Photo Credit: Border Patrol

John R. Peavey, member of the mounted guards, a group that was the forerunner of the Border Patrol and today's horse patrol. Photo taken in 1938 when Peavey was Assistant Chief Patrol Inspector of the then McAllen, Tex,. sub-district.

The first Border Patrol agents provided their own transportation?they had to own a horse and tack (equestrian rigging-saddles, bridles, harness.) Uncle Sam paid their salary and provided animal feed.

Why ride?
Horse patrol agents still ride through the night, stopping bad guys, and carrying on the tradition of those early line-watchers. However, don't fall into the romantic notion that these patrolmen are just modern day "cowboys." Sure, they have wranglers, fellows who take care of the horses back at the station, and just like the riders of old; they share a closeness with their animals.

Make no mistake, today's horse patrol agents are highly trained and sophisticated law enforcement officers. Some, like Senior Patrol Agent Arnoldo A. Martinez III, the El Centro sector's equine instructor and wrangler, hold degrees in agribusiness or range management. So why do they ride? D'Arcy Rivers, Supervisory Border Patrol agent in the El Centro sector says, "The whole idea of being around horses is so appealing to me. While horses are a tool, they are so much more than that?they represent a lifestyle."

A typical day
Mounted agents start their shifts by grooming their horses, brushing them, doing a sort of "pre-flight" inspection for bruises or injuries, then "tacking up"-putting on their saddles, bridles, reins. The horses are trailered and driven to an operating area. Agents, usually riding in groups of three or four, but at least in pairs, decide where they will ride based on intelligence developed by agents during the previous shift. Once out in the field, the agents scour the landscape, looking for footprints, disturbances in the brush, or other indicators of alien traffic. If there are no tracks, they may respond instead to movement sensors hidden in the landscape along the border.

Photo Credit: Gerald L. Nino

Border Patrol horse patrol agent looking for footprints or other signs of alien traffic.

These agents put in four and sometimes up to eight hours of saddle time per day, depending upon the season and the situations they encounter. And riding as a job rather than as a hobby is hard work. Jeff Jeude, senior Border Patrol agent, former Navy helicopter pilot, and a member of the horse patrol says, "I love the job, but it is the most physically demanding work I have ever done. I've been out freezing on a mountain at midnight and then riding in the scorching midday sun."

At the end of the day, each horse is brought back to the stable and inspected, de-tacked, and hosed off until the next day when the cycle starts all over again.

Selection and training
Agents who seek the sense of freedom and camaraderie that comes with being a member of the horse patrol have to respond to announcements for volunteers in writing. Candidates go through a two-phase selection process that consists of a face-to-face interview with unit supervisors and a riding skills test conducted by current horse patrol agents. Although most applicants have had experience with horses, novices can also apply. Unit supervisors rate the greenhorns based upon their potential to complete the training. The length and type of training novices receive varies from sector to sector, and reflects differences in the terrain and in the type of riding skills required in each sector.

Horse patrol agents at the San Diego sector train for eight weeks studying horsemanship, equine anatomy, veterinary care, trailering, and related subjects. After graduating from CBP's training program, all sector agents attend the Royal Canadian Mounted Police School's Basic Course. Instructors and agents alike must complete advanced training which includes handcuffing techniques, arrest procedures, formation riding and riot control. The San Diego sector mounted patrol is a classically trained unit, which uses lightweight endurance saddles that are suited not only for range work but also for urban work, such as crowd control. Even experienced western-style riders must receive training to adapt to the "classical seat" or dressage riding.

The El Centro sector rides western style and uses Western style saddles. Riders in this sector spend four weeks in training; initially they ride bareback to learn the "feel" of a horse, then they learn the intricacies of proper saddling. This training is followed by fieldwork-learning the trails and adjusting to being five feet above ground on horseback.

American Quarter horses are the preferred breed, and color is important: sorrels, chestnuts, bays, or horses whose colors provide camouflage by night top the list. CBP buys its horses through brokers or scouts them out at local ranches and feedlots.

And the horses get their share of training, too. Each rider is responsible for keeping up his or her horse's training unless a performance problem develops. Then a professional wrangler or certified horse trainer is called to help with retraining or fixing the problem.

Technology has its limits
Four-wheel drive and all-terrain vehicles allow the Border Patrol to cover rough terrain and patrol areas that might otherwise be off limits. Helicopters and airplanes provide a bird's eye view expanding the patrol range and making it more difficult for illegal immigrants to cross border territory undetected-but the 171 Border Patrol agents who mount up daily are a reminder that technology has its limitations.

Horse patrols can travel places that ATVs and motorized vehicles cannot. And they can do it faster. "The area where we work has heavy mansanita brush that can be six feet high. A group of illegal immigrants will scatter and run away from a ground agent or helicopter that has stopped them. Add a couple of horses to the mix, and it changes the dynamic. Horses can get into the brush, and they have the advantage of being able to look down," explains Agent Jeude.

The roar of an ATV engine or headlights presents another advantage that horses have over motorized vehicles?stealth. Horses are quiet, and they can see at night, making it possible for a horse patrol agent to get close to camps or groups of illegals without being detected.

Horses also bring an air of authority to explosive situations. Their size and speed can be intimidating, but they also have a calming effect on a large group detained by authorities. An agent on horseback can prevent a group of illegals from "making a run for it", fleeing in different directions into the wild. Horse and rider can shepherd the immigrants so they can be safely "walked out" of rough or dangerous terrain to roads where they can be picked up, and transported to the nearest sector office.

Search and rescue missions have made good use of horses because the animals can reach locations that are impenetrable except on foot. "It's amazing what horses can do?climbing steep hills, navigating difficult paths, and staying sure-footed even in the dark" says Agent Rivers.

Horses are also cost effective. It costs less to board, feed, and care for 10 horses a year than to maintain a single 4x4 off-road vehicle. And they last longer; a vehicle may last for two or three years but a horse can be in service for 20 years.

Friends of the environment
The horse patrol has yet another advantage over all other high-tech methods of transport; horses are friendly to the environment. Border Patrol agents work between ports of entry, and in the southwest this means that much of the land is wilderness?remote, undeveloped, rugged land. And The National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management want to keep it that way. Motor vehicles, motorized equipment, or any type of mechanical transport cannot be used in these wilderness areas. Agent Jeude says, "In the San Diego sector we patrol in the Tijuana Estuary and it can be a very touchy situation. There are restrictions on vehicles, but the horse patrol can enter these areas without a problem."

Public agencies aren't the only ones concerned with environmental issues; ranchers are also interested in conserving their rangeland. They don't want 4x4s or ATVs tearing up cactus, leaving tracks on the ground, polluting the air or doing anything else that could lead to environmental degradation.

Sometimes less is more
More powerful engines, bigger tires, computer-assisted navigation, and other such technological trinkets are impressive and useful patrol tools. But they have yet to displace the importance of horses. When it comes to border enforcement and safety, the horses and riders of the mounted patrol can still outmaneuver, outlast, outsmart and give any vehicle or tech-tool a pretty good run.